Usually, the major releases of iPadOS launch together with iOS but this year was different. iOS 16 was released on 16th September for the general public but iPadOS was nowhere to be found. The people following Apple news knew that Apple made a statement to TechCrunch around the end of August stating
“This is an especially big year for iPadOS. As its own platform with features specifically designed for iPad, we have the flexibility to deliver iPadOS on its own schedule. This Fall, iPadOS will ship after iOS, as version 16.1 in a free software update.”
Apple
So, this was the expected move. But, what was not expected is Apple to skip over iPad OS 16 and release iPadOS 16.1 directly. This was also hinted at when Apple rolled out iPadOS 16.1 betas before the iOS 16 public release.
Now, renowned Apple Journolish from Bloomberg, Mark Gurman has rumored that Apple will release iPadOS 16.1 on 24th Oct.
It’s a good thing when we look at how disastrous the iOS 16 update was with Apple releasing multiple hotfixes for major bugs.
iPadOS 16 is expected to have features like
- All-new weather app designed specifically for iPad and Home app
- New stage manager feature for multitasking
- Smart search in the Mail app
- Security and accessibility updates
You can check the complete list of new updates in iPadOS 16 here.
Let me know in the comments if you’re excited to use stage manager in the new iPadOS 16 or if it’s a glorified split screen mode for you.